The NBA has not been broadcast on NBC for 15 years, but the NBA on NBC remains iconic for basketball fans. The voices of Marv Albert, Doug Collins, Bill Walton. and more defined the era of basketball broadcasting, but the biggest reason the NBA on NBC remains beloved by hoops fans is the theme music.
John Tesh’s “Roundball Rock” is one of, if not the, greatest sports broadcast theme songs of all time (some would argue the Monday Night Football theme), and it’s absence from basketball broadcasts is legitimately a bummer. NBC apparently still has rights to “Roundball Rock” and on Sunday night, during the broadcast of the Packers vs. Falcons game, a producer dug deep and broke it out for a cut to commercial after a touchdown and a basketball themed end zone celebration from Atlanta.
But really, the NBA on NBC music in that situation was excellent TV work. pic.twitter.com/VEHej5oMvT
— Andrew Joseph (@AndyJ0seph) September 18, 2017
It didn’t take long for basketball Twitter to get very excited about the return of “Roundball Rock” to the airwaves and the producer that made that call is brilliant, because it was the perfect time to use it. I want “Roundball Rock” to be used for anything and everything because it’s so great, and hopefully at some point it will return to regular use before NBA games again in the future.
